Today's vote on "Mrs. Kim's Special Counsel"...'Lee Jae-myung Sentencing D-1' Tensions Rise

[Anchor]
At today's plenary session of the National Assembly, the third Kim Gun-hee independent counsel law pushed by the Democratic Party of Korea will be voted on.

Political tensions are rising in line with the first trial sentence of representative Lee Jae-myung, which is just a day away.

I'm connecting with the reporter. Reporter Na Hye-in.

If the plenary session begins at 2 p.m., will the first lady Kim's special counsel law be voted on right away?

[Reporter]
Although the agenda has not been finalized yet, the special prosecutor Kim's law is expected to be introduced at the end after voting on about 30 non-controversial bills on people's livelihoods.

The special prosecution law, which the Democratic Party of Korea is trying to pass today, reduces the scope of the investigation to allegations of Kim's involvement in the manipulation of Deutsche Motors' stock price and suspicions related to Myung Tae-kyun, and gives the chief justice of the Supreme Court the first right to recommend the special prosecution candidate.

However, the Democratic Party of Korea included a so-called "right to veto" clause that allows the opposition to demand a re-recommendation if the candidate recommended by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is deemed inappropriate.

Park Chan-dae, the floor leader of the party, said in a morning meeting that suspicions surrounding Kim and Myung Tae-kyun are pouring out one day later, claiming that the special prosecutor has now become an order and historical responsibility of the people.

He appears to be emphasizing the legitimacy of the special prosecution by linking Myung Tae-kyun, who is undergoing an arrest warrant review today, and in the morning, Rep. Lee Joon-seok of the New Reform Party also made a determined statement.

Representative Lee is suspected of delivering Yoon Suk Yeol's intention to Myung as the representative of People's Power ahead of the nomination of former lawmaker Kim Young-sun, who is suspected of nomination deals in June 2022.

Speaking to reporters on his way to an overseas business trip today, he claimed that the key was whether President Yoon intervened in the nomination, and that the president once mentioned the nomination of local elections.

He then said that he looked for records of active communication with the president during the nomination period, and that if the prosecution is curious, he is willing to tell you something more certain than what is known now.

However, Rep. Lee stuck to the existing position that there is no message left regarding the nomination of former lawmaker Kim Young-sun that he sent to Mr. Myung, only conveying the party's atmosphere at the time.

[Anchor]
If the Democratic Party pushes ahead with the vote, it is difficult to block the people's power in reality, so how do they respond?

[Reporter]
First of all, we convened a general meeting of lawmakers just before the plenary session, where we decided to discuss not attending the vote on the Special Prosecutor Act.

Internally, there is a consensus that the special prosecutor is on the way to the destruction of the party and the government at a time when we don't know where the investigation will go over the past nomination of Myung Tae-kyun and former lawmaker Kim Young-sun.

The Democratic Party's amendment is a deceit that the opposition party will eventually monopolize the right to recommend the special prosecutor, and if approved, it will propose to President Yoon Suk Yeol to exercise the right to request reconsideration, or veto.

Instead, the ruling party will discuss the recommendation of a special inspector proposed by representative Han Dong-hoon as a solution to the First Lady Kim problem at today's general meeting of lawmakers.

For now, there is a high possibility that the floor leadership will start negotiating with the opposition party without a separate vote, and the temperature difference seems to remain between representative Han Dong-hoon and pro-Yoon-gye lawmakers, who emphasize the rapid reform of the presidential office.

In particular, the pro-yoon community is calling for a party audit over a recent posting criticizing the president and his wife under the same name as Han's family on the party's bulletin board.

This issue is also likely to be mentioned at the general meeting of the lawmakers today, and if a random debate takes place, the meeting is likely to continue after the plenary session.

[Anchor]
Representative Lee Jae-myung's first trial sentence is just a day away, so how is the atmosphere of the Democratic Party of Korea?

[Reporter]
All the key Democratic Party officials who spoke on the phone in the morning were convinced of Lee's innocence.

It was not a case that could be a crime in the first place, but the prosecution prosecuted it politically, and I expected the judiciary to make the right judgment.

However, internally, there is also an atmosphere of seeking strategies to respond to Lee's conviction, especially if he is sentenced to a fine of more than 1 million won, which is equivalent to invalidation of election.

Tomorrow's election law violation is linked to Lee's future presidential bid as well as whether he will return election subsidies during the last presidential election, so the Democratic Party of Korea cannot help but pay keen attention.

Recently, the power of the people, who have been on the defensive due to unfavorable factors from the ruling party, has launched a massive counterattack.

Representative Han Dong-hoon stressed at a morning meeting that if representative Lee is confirmed to be invalidated for election, the Democratic Party of Korea should throw up about 40 billion won.

Rather, he accused the party of trying to intimidate judges and deceive the people with a kind of "self-inflicted marketing" that could be broken down in the air.

Floor leader Choo Kyung-ho also said, "No matter how much public opinion is instigated, the crimes committed will not disappear," and urged him to stop inciting thinly-veiled politics.

I'm Na Hye-in from YTN in the National Assembly.